The Council kept me waiting again. At least the waiting room was so luxurious that Puzzle and I were quite comfortable. They’d even tossed in a nice selection of refreshments, since it was around the time when normal ponies would be eating breakfast. After everything I’d gone through, I attacked the buffet table with only slightly less ferocity than I’d used against Strumming. After a couple days of prison food, getting high-quality Freeport cuisine again was very nice.

Still, while I suppose the delay shouldn’t have been surprising after how things had gone the last time I’d been here, you would think the Council would show a bit more respect for me in light of the changed circumstances. Last time I’d just been another petitioner begging the Council for a favor; now I had crushed Metal Mome, escaped from EIS custody, and managed to talk them into leaving me alone forever. Granted, most of the credit went to Puzzle for that last one.

The point was, I wasn’t the same mare. I’d learned and grown a lot over the last couple weeks. Not the kind of learning and growth Celestia probably wanted from me, but it was still growth. I’d gone into battle and put my life on the line to protect others. I’d stopped a dangerous criminal who had a long string of victims. I’d killed a sapient being, and reduced another one to a vegetative state he would probably never recover from.

I’d used dark magic. Twice. And despite that, I’d managed to keep things together pretty well. I’m not saying everything was fine, but I hadn’t turned into a raving lunatic warlock when I’d used forbidden spells to get myself out of a tough situation. Well, those spells were forbidden back in Equestria. As far as Freeport was concerned, everything I had done was legal—or at least not illegal enough for the Council to press charges. I suppose my outlook on dark magic had changed a bit. It’s not like I was planning to fling out forbidden spells all the time, but it did provide some new tactical options for me. At the very least, it was worth looking into while I was in Freeport. Books on the topic would be a lot easier to find here, after all. If I wanted to use it again, I’d be better at it; If not, the more I knew about warlock tricks, the better I would be at countering them.

All that was a concern for later on, though. For the moment, the Council was a far more pressing concern. Puzzle was waiting for them along with me, but Kukri had gone back to her clanhold. It hadn’t been easy to persuade her to leave my side after everything that had happened. We had to resort to fighting dirty, and brought up how worried her family would be after she’d vanished. While that convinced her to go home, she was plainly unhappy about it. I had a feeling that if she could find a way to arrange it, she’d get reassigned from the Venture to being my apprentice, or something like that. I’m not sure how good I would actually be at training her, but I liked the idea of having her around.

Puzzle watched me pacing back and forth across the room, a faint smile growing on his face. “It seems that the Shimmer-mare is most impatient. This one would have thought she would desire rest after all she had been through.”

“I got plenty of rest while I was locked up,” I growled at him. There wasn’t any real heat to it; I was just agitated and he was the only available target to take it out on. “Not to mention the sleeping potion that nearly screwed up my escape attempt. The whole standoff at the cemetery involved a whole lot of lying down and waiting too. And then the trip by the hospital that you insisted on even though I was perfectly fine. I think I’ve been very patient about all of this, but I have my limits.”

“If the Shimmer-mare’s patience is exhausted after the Council has kept her waiting for a mere fifteen minutes then this one will make a note to avoid enlisting her aid in any stakeout missions it may attempt.” Puzzle smirked at me. “It does not believe that the Shimmer-mare would enjoy spending several days locked up in a small room, looking out a window and waiting for some vital piece of intelligence to reveal itself.”

“Yeah, that does sound pretty awful.” Sure, I’d survived long stretches of study time back in my student days, but there’s a huge difference between reading a good book and staring out at the same scene for hours at a time. It wasn’t so much a matter of impatience as it was that I just couldn’t turn my brain off enough to do something that mindless for an extended stretch of time. A brain as well-developed as mine needs a certain degree of stimulation. It would be like taking a professional athlete and not letting them do any exercises for a month.

Puzzle grinned and nodded. “Thankfully, stakeout duty is something this one is long past, and a waste of the Shimmer-mare’s talents regardless. This one can usually subcontract out such unpleasant tasks to a reasonably competent investigator.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “This one will likely need some time to determine where the Shimmer-mare’s talents would be most useful. Though perhaps that is for the best. The Shimmer-mare will doubtlessly wish to take some time to establish a new home base and familiarize herself with her new golems.”

He was right about that. For the moment, Mome’s old golems were still in storage on his ship, but once Puzzle found a buyer for the Granite Heart, I would need somewhere else to put them and all the tools Mome used to work on them. Plus, I would need to secure a reliable source of magical crafting supplies to keep them in working order. Not to mention that as I assimilated Mome’s memories, I was starting to see a few interesting avenues for future expansion. To be honest, I would probably want to scrap his current golems and build my own from the ground up. Right now it was all pure theory, but with enough time and material, I could—

My train of thought abruptly derailed, and I turned towards Puzzle with a pondering frown. “So you’re already planning out new jobs for us? That’s a little presumptuous of you.” Not that I was all that offended, since I’d planned on working with Puzzle anyway. Still, no harm in bantering with him while we waited—it certainly beat sitting around bored.

“After how well this one’s first partnership with the Shimmer-mare went, it sees no reason not to continue to develop a strong working relationship.” The changeling sighed melodramatically, his head slumping. “Though this one supposes it understands. The Shimmer-mare does not enjoy earning profit or having reliable allies, and would prefer to work for less money with a fixer who will likely betray her at the first opportunity. Such preferences seem strange to this one, but it is certain she has her reasons.”

I chuckled and slowly shook my head. “Okay, I have to ask just what about our first job together made you think I would be a good long-term partner. Was it the part where I screwed up snatching the pirate so badly that I had to use dark magic to get out of it, or the part where I got you arrested by the EIS?” I tapped my cheek, my tone turning a touch mocking. “Oh, and let’s not forget that I wound up taking an Equestrian guardpony hostage to try and get out of jail, and if not for you bailing me out, it probably would’ve ended in a bloodbath. Yeah, I can see why you’re so eager to team up with me.”

“The Shimmer-mare gives herself too little credit,” Puzzle answered diplomatically. There was a brief silence, and he shifted to stand a bit closer to me. “Though if this one might be frank, what interests it is not the troubles the Shimmer-mare encountered. This one has yet to find a way to avoid any unexpected complications on high-risk missions. However, the Shimmer-mare showed an impressive degree of adaptability and determination in achieving her objectives.” He stepped forward and lightly tapped me on the chest. “Where others might have chosen surrender, the Shimmer-mare refused to accept any outcome other than the achievement of her goals. That is a valuable quality in any partner.” A faint smile shot across his lips. “Some might claim that the Shimmer-mare was lucky. It is this one’s experience that luck will often save one, should they possess the strength of will to carry on when all seems lost.”

“So is that what happened?” I turned to Puzzle, searching his face for any sign of what he was thinking. “Funny, I thought I got out of there because you were such a good negotiator. Though that does raise the question of what exactly you told Strumming to make her completely reverse her position on arresting me. Even if she was telling the truth about not wanting me locked up, she still had her orders.”

Puzzle answered with a dry grin. “This one can be very persuasive.”

“Yeah, sure you can.” I kept searching, but Puzzle’s poker face was way too good for me to see through. If I wanted him to give anything away, I had to poke the hornet’s nest a few times and see what came out. “You know, while I was in EIS custody, Strumming shared a pretty interesting theory with me. She said you’d set me up from the beginning—that you just casually mentioned that Mome would be vulnerable to dark magic, then tossed me into a dangerous situation I wasn’t ready for. Because if I crossed that line, then I wouldn’t be able to go back to Equestria.” I frowned at him. “And oh look, you just brokered a deal with the EIS where I get to stay in Freeport working for the Council but can never go back to Equestria.”

Puzzle’s face remained unreadably blank for several seconds, and when he finally answered it was with carefully measured deliberation. “If the Shimmer-mare wishes to believe that this one is capable of such acts, then she may do so. This one is the best fixer in Freeport, after all.” He took a deep breath. “However, this one has never betrayed the Shimmer-mare’s trust. A conspiracy of the sort the Heartstrings-mare suggests would be impossible to arrange. This one would have to perfectly coordinate the actions of hundreds of ponies, many of whom it had no means of contacting, much less controlling. Not to mention that this one finds it curious that the EIS played perfectly into the hooves of this plan if the Heartstrings-mare saw through it so perfectly.”

I scoffed and shook my head. “Yeah, about what I figured.” I took a seat, shifting my eyes away from the changeling for a bit. “I had an idea of my own, actually. You see, Strumming’s theory has a lot of holes in it, but it does make for something interesting to think over. It kept my mind very occupied, and as long as I was thinking about Strumming’s ideas I wouldn’t start coming up with any theories of my own.”

“And what sort of theories would the Shimmer-mare have conjured on her own?” Puzzle asked, a politely curious smile on his face.

I tapped my chin as I pulled my thoughts together. “Perhaps I would have noticed just how smoothly all the negotiations went. Normally high-stakes hostage situations are a lot more tense, but once you were on the scene everything just sorted itself out. Almost like you and Strumming planned the whole thing out before you even talked to me.” My expression hardened. “I’m sure you can see how that would make a mare curious about how long you’ve been talking to her behind my back, and whether you two cut any other dirty deals before this one.”

Puzzle took a deep breath, then shifted into his changeling form. It was still a bit strange to see him like that. You’d think I would be more at ease with Puzzle when he wasn’t wearing a disguise. Maybe it was just something I needed to get used to. Chitin and compound eyes did render his expression all but unreadable to me. Maybe that was part of why he’d shifted, or maybe dropping his disguise was meant to be some kind of signal that he was being completely honest. Or maybe he’d noticed my attempts to see through his poker face, so he put on a better one. I definitely needed to pick up a book on Free Mind psychology and social norms if I was going to be spending more time around him and Kukri.

Finally, he answered me. “The Shimmer-mare’s theory is correct. This one did speak with the Heartstrings-mare regarding a satisfactory resolution to the hostage crisis. It seemed only prudent to do so while it was en-route to her location.” He paused, his insectoid wings flicking. “As for the Shimmer-mare’s other question, this one does have certain additional understandings with the Heartstrings-mare as part of her release.” He quickly held up a hoof to forestall my answer. “These terms are not to the Shimmer-mare’s detriment in any way. If anything, her position will be improved.”

“You’ll forgive me I don’t take your word for it,” I growled. I paused, took a deep breath, and reined in my temper before it could start getting out of hoof. I already knew far too well how much trouble I could get into if I let anger control my actions. “If you want me to trust you, then you need to come clean about this. I want to know all the terms of your deal with Strumming. Now. You hold anything back, no matter how minor, and you can kiss any dreams of us working together goodbye.”

“This one understands the Shimmer-mare’s terms.” Puzzle took a breath. “The Heartstrings-mare believes that further direct contact between the EIS and the Shimmer-mare would not be in the best interests of any of the involved parties. Attempting to return the Shimmer-mare to Equestria by force merely pushed her further down a dark path and increased her hostility towards Equestria and its interests.” A faint smirk crossed his face. “This one can say with some confidence that the Heartstrings-mare is correct in this assessment. However, while direct contact would be inadvisable, some steps must still be taken to ensure that the Shimmer-mare does not become a full-fledged warlock and that Equestria remains reasonably aware of her actions.”

“In other words, the deal was that you spy on me for the EIS.” I suppose I should’ve been shocked by his betrayal and utterly furious, but after everything else I’d been through the news just didn’t have that much of an impact. Besides, having Puzzle send reports to the EIS was still a huge step up from being locked in an EIS prison or under permanent house arrest with Celestia.

“This one did intend to speak with the Shimmer-mare on the matter, once a more appropriate time to do so arose.” He waved one of his hooves across my body, taking in my generally battered, worn-down appearance. “The Shimmer-mare has had a rather difficult day, and this one’s news could have waited until after she had rested. This one’s assignment was only to provide the most general of information regarding the Shimmer-mare and her activities. Enough for the EIS to be certain she was not planning to return to Equestria as a false alicorn at the head of an army of brainwashed minions.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, there’s no way that would ever happen.” I wasn’t at all sure I believed his story about intending to tell me when a good opportunity arose. It’s easy to say you were planning on coming clean after you’ve been busted. On the other hoof, I didn’t see much to be gained from pushing the issue further than I already had. All things considered, getting my freedom on the condition that Puzzle sent the EIS a report every couple months reassuring them that I hadn’t gone off the deep end was a pretty good deal. Probably a bit too good, really. Which meant that either Puzzle was still holding something back from me, or Strumming was going easy on me.

I stared at Puzzle for a long time, thinking it over. I was inclined to believe that Strumming had cut me a nicer deal than she should’ve. I didn’t think Puzzle would risk lying to me when he knew he was on very thin ice as far as my trust went. Granted, he might pick lying to me over something like confessing that he’d agreed to ‘problem solve’ me if I turned into a madmare bent on world domination.

However, the other angle fit Strumming a lot better. Assuming some of what she’d told me was more-or-less true—an admittedly huge assumption—the order to arrest me had come from higher up. But judging by how quickly she’d shifted gears, it probably hadn’t come all the way from Celestia herself. After all, there had only been a couple hours between my return to Freeport and my arrest by the EIS. While it was certainly possible they had a way to instantly get in touch with Celestia if needed, the arrest felt more like a knee-jerk reaction from somepony in the field. Sending guards to arrest me just didn’t feel like something she would do.

In that case, Strumming was in a pretty good position after she’d resolved all the problems around my escape attempt. Her superior officers probably looked like idiots for trying to arrest me, while she could point out that she’d not only fixed the problems they’d caused, but also talked me down from using more dark magic and brought in a new contact to keep a close eye on me. Celestia would probably like Strumming’s solution a lot more than the whole idea of locking me up. If she played her cards right, Strumming might end up with her boss’s job. I certainly wouldn’t complain about having her running the Freeport EIS; if someone new took over, they might not stick to Strumming’s deal.

She was still annoying, though.

“This one hopes it has satisfied the Shimmer-mare’s curiosity.” Puzzle levelly met my gaze. “It would hate to find a profitable partnership ruined because it made a few arrangements to ensure the Shimmer-mare’s continued freedom. If need be, this one could always revoke its arrangement with the Heartstrings-mare and allow the Shimmer-mare to be a hunted fugitive on the run instead.”

“I’ll learn to live with it.” I grumbled and loaded my plate down with more breadfruit. “At least I won’t have to see any more of Strumming.”

Puzzle grinned at me. “This one is not so certain your paths will never cross again. If only because this one is taking the Heartstrings-mare out to dinner next Saturday.”

I stared at him, trying to make sense of those insane words. “Is that a euphemism for you eating her or something? ‘Cause that’s about the only way that what you just said could even begin to make sense.”

He trotted over to the refreshment table and poured himself a glass of water, then mixed in some thymoplasm. “Now why would the Shimmer-mare say that?”

“Because she's a nag.” Considering just how annoying she had been, I would’ve thought the answer was self-evident. “She tried to ship me back to Equestria and put me in jail. Not to mention locking you and Kukri up. And I don't like her attitude.”

“This one does not believe in holding grudges.” He sipped his drink, then smiled at me. “So tell this one, as a thought exercise, what would the Shimmer-mare have done if she were in the Heartstrings-mare’s horseshoes?” He began slowly pacing around me. “Say, someday, the White Pony were to send a letter to the Shimmer-mare. A pony she cares about deeply has come to Freeport. A young adult, new to the city, been a scholar all her life. The White Pony asks you to watch over and care for this pony. What would you do?”

I frowned as I thought back to what Strumming had discussed with me during the whole standoff. Maybe she’d actually mentioned that conversation to Puzzle at some point, in between him asking her out on a date for Celestia-only-knows what reason “Well, if I had Strumming’s job, I certainly wouldn’t have followed her example of just being annoying and useless. I would’ve actually cared for—er, me. If her job was to help me, then she failed it utterly. I can’t think of a single thing she did that actually helped me in any way.”

“This one will readily concede that Strumming’s approach ultimately failed.” Puzzle cocked his head to the side. “However, this one’s question goes unanswered, save for vague generalities. How would the Shimmer-mare care for her counterpart, were the situations reversed?”

I tried to come up with a good answer, and wound up stumbling a bit. “Well ... y'know, help her and stuff. Give her good advice.”

“This one is certain the White Pony attempted to give the Shimmer-mare advice. As did the Heartstrings-mare,” Puzzle commented with an amused smirk. “Be honest, Shimmer-mare: what if you were ordered to aid a pony who is young, headstrong, and thinks she knows everything about the world? Somepony who says she doesn't need anypony, and wants to strike out all on her own. What is to be done if she will not heed any advice given to her?”

Dammit. I hate it when someone trips me up like that. “Okay, fine, so maybe I did make things a little hard for her. But she was still annoying.” I glowered at him. “And I can't believe you're going on a date with her!”

Puzzle shrugged away my objections. “Why is that so unbelievable? The Heartstings-mare is a smart, attractive, and capable young mare. This one also finds her personality far more enjoyable when she is not amongst this one’s enemies. And dating will allow this one to keep much closer tabs on her than would otherwise be the case. What is not to like?”

“But she’s ... and you’re...” I struggled to find the words for just how monumentally stupid he was being right now. “It’s just ... aaaargh! She doesn’t even like changelings! Why are you being so—can’t you tell she’s—buck it! I don’t even care anymore!”

The changeling sighed and shook his head, one hoof covering its mouth to conceal a chuckle. “The Shimmer-mare really should learn not to take things quite so personally in Freeport. Especially with the occupation you plan on getting into.” He stepped back and gestured at himself. “Look at this one, if it had held a grudge against Strumming, it would likely still be in a holding cell. And at best, the Shimmer-mare would be on the run still. This one feels that there is little point in pursuing such vendettas; nothing positive comes of them.”

“So I shouldn’t take it personally?” I scoffed, getting up to pace around the room. “She tried to put me in jail. That's pretty damn personal to me.”

Puzzle waved my objections away. “It was part of the Heartstrings-mare’s job. Once again, what would the Shimmer-mare have done in her place under similar circumstances? Orders are orders. And under the terms of our current arrangement, she is not going to throw you in jail as long as you do not become a public menace, so why hold onto the past?”

Stupid changelings and their stupid logical arguments. “I still don't like her.”

He shrugged. “This one does not ask the Shimmer-mare to like the Heartstrings-mare, merely to avoid pursuing a pointless and costly vendetta against her. This one has worked with many it has not liked, and to its great profit.” He paused and cleared his throat. “One needs to differentiate between who is merely an opponent due to the circumstances of today, and who one's true enemies are.”

“So you're saying she's not one of my true enemies?” I mulled over that idea for a bit. “I guess I can see that, if she really was just following orders.”

“Indeed she was,” Puzzle reassured me. “Now that her orders are different, she is no longer an opponent. At least not from day to day. She might even become an ally some day.” His face darkened. “It would be quite different from the case of a being like the Old Mind, who this one would never entreat with no matter what sweet words or promises she might give. That one is and forever will be an enemy to the Free Minds.”

I groaned and rubbed my temples. I could feel a headache developing. “Right, I think I see your point. Okay. Fine. You can date her, if you really want to that much.”

He smiled and offered a sarcastic half-bow. “This one is very glad that it now has the Shimmer-mare’s permission to date whomever it pleases. It was unaware that it required such authorization.”

“Oh shut up,” I groused, chucking one of my dates at the changeling. Considering his offense, I thought my choice of projectile quite fitting.

The date plinked off his nose, but he didn’t react to it at all. “It is good to keep perspective on what is important in one’s life. It helps to keep one much happier.”

“Yeah, sure.” I thought about hitting him with another date, but if he didn’t care, there was no point in doing it. “Just ... do changelings even have dates and relationships?”

“We can and do,” Puzzle confirmed. “It depends on the individual, much like with ponies. Some of us prefer to avoid relationships, others will identify as a particular gender and develop preferences. The Free Minds have as much of a drive towards socialization as ponies, perhaps even more so. Our ability to form emotional bonds and connections is what separates us from the drones held by the Old Mind.”

“Huh.” I really needed to find a good book about Free Minds. “Well I hope you're not planning to ask me to be the best mare at your wedding.” I paused uncertainly. “Er, do changelings even get married? I’d assume yes, but...”

“It is somewhat rare, but not unheard of.” Puzzle smirked and nudged me with one of his insectoid wings. “However, this one would point out that this is only a first date—much as this one likes to plan ahead, thinking all the way up to the wedding might be a touch premature.” His smirk widened a bit more. “Besides, this one is not sure if the Heartstrings-mare is even the marrying type. Not to mention the complications it would cause considering our occupations. However, in the event that we move from a possible friendly enemies with benefits relationship to marriage, this one will refrain from making any unreasonable requests of the Shimmer-mare.”

Urgh. Just thinking of Puzzle being involved with Strumming made me want to vomit. So much for all my respect for his intelligence. “Anyway, moving on to things that are less horrifying and gross, do you have any last words of advice before I meet the Council?”

Puzzle nodded firmly. “Know what you want, be confident, and do not show all your cards unless you have to. Remind them why they need you, and of the fact that you don’t need them nearly as much.”

“Got it.” I paused and took a deep breath. “I guess I’m as ready as I'll ever be.”

“Don’t guess,” Puzzle advised. “Know it.”

“Okay.” I closed my eyes and centered myself. “I know.”

The Council hadn’t obtained the services of a better interior decorator or a fashion consultant while I was out. They were still using the same semi-circular table and the heavy black robes combined with face-concealing silver masks that left no clue as to what their identities were. Considering Freeport’s climate was warm, one would think wearing the whole identity-concealing outfit would be unbearable. Maybe that was why their meeting room seemed to be a bit too cold—it wasn’t some elaborate psychological ploy to make anyone meeting with them uncomfortable, it was because otherwise they would be roasting inside their costumes. The whole ‘You know nothing about us’ act would lose a lot of its intimidation power if the Councilors’ robes all had huge sweat stains on them. I wonder how many members the Council had lost to heat stroke over the years. Or maybe their robes were enchanted to keep them cool no matter what the temperature was?

My mind sometimes goes off on weird tangents when I’m nervous.

I wasn’t in the mood to stand in the middle of that half-circle while the Council all talked to me. For that matter, I wasn’t inclined to do much standing at all. Even after a stop by the hospital to get my injuries properly treated, I was sore just about everywhere. Crash landings will do that. Once I pulled off Ascension, I was definitely going to get extensive flying lessons before I even considered letting my hooves leave the ground.

I started to walk into the middle of the crescent-shaped table like I had the last time, my hips twinging. Until all the cuts and bruises healed, I was going to be dealing with lots of random soreness. Not to mention that I’d only gotten a couple hours of potion-induced sleep in the last couple days. I was tired, sore, and in no mood to put up with the Council’s pageantry. Not that I enjoyed putting up with it when I was in good condition.

Once I reached a good spot that gave me a comfortable view of all thirteen members of the Council, I stopped walking and started some spellwork. All the members of the Council tensed when they saw me casting, but no guards came rushing in to tackle me. Not that I could actually see any armed soldiers in the room, but I would be shocked if there weren’t some lurking behind a hidden doorway or in one of the dark corners of the room.

Once I’d conjured myself a nice little throne out of solid ice, I took a seat. After a moment’s consideration, I threw in a footstool as well. Maybe it wasn’t the most dignified way to sit, but I cared more about being comfortable. Besides, it would ruin my image if I got a leg cramp halfway through the meeting. Once I was happy with my new seat, I turned to face them. “Well, here I am. I assume you’re up to date on everything that’s happened?”

There was a long, long silence from all thirteen members of the Council. I’m pretty sure they were annoyed about how I wasn’t playing along with their whole act. Maybe I should’ve done a little more deferential bowing and scraping, but I was just too worn down to give a damn. If they wanted polite, they could give me a week in a penthouse suite to rest and recover. They’d wanted to see me right away, so they could put up with what I was like while injured and sleep-deprived.

The one in the center of the table cleared their throat. “So you have returned to us, Sunset Shimmer.” As before, their voices were all weirdly distorted. From what little I could tell, the one who had the center seat was the chairmare, but I wasn’t even sure if that was the case, and with the robes and voice distortion they could easily just change who was sitting where. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I was sure that they did change up their seating positions. It would be another way to throw everyone off. It might not even be the same thirteen individuals under those cloaks for every meeting. Or it could just be one person and a dozen golems. Or ... any number of possibilities.

I guess that really didn’t matter at the moment. “Yeah, I’m back. I hope you managed to take Metal Mome into custody despite what happened to me.” If I didn’t get paid for all the trouble I’d gone to in capturing the pirate, I would be a very unhappy mare.

“We did.” One of the others confirmed. “The crew of the Venture held them until our condottieri arrived to take them into custody. You have fulfilled the contract as promised, and will be paid for your efforts.”

“That’s great.” I could certainly use the bits. However, Mome’s bounty was only part of that. “I assume the Granite Heart and its contents are mine to do with as I please, in accordance with the usual laws on captured pirate vessels?”

“Indeed so.” The lead Councilor raised a forelimb to indicate he wasn’t done talking. “With the exception of Mome’s golems. We will have to impound those as evidence—not to mention the considerable security risk posed by a pair of active golems with no controller.”

“I can keep them under control,” I answered confidently. “Besides, they’re my prizes of battle.”

“The Council believes that it is in the best interests of Freeport if the golems remain in our custody.” The leader traded looks with a few of its subordinates. “We are aware that this was not part of the original contract, and will compensate you appropriately for the loss of your property. Let it not be said that the Council deals unfairly with its agents. Would another twenty-five thousand bits suffice?”

I scoffed. “You have got to be kidding me. A pair of fully functional golems is worth at least ten times that price. Probably more, considering all Mome’s upgrades and custom work.”

“Very well then,” the leader answered smoothly. “We will meet that price. Five hundred thousand bits. Do we have a bargain?”

That set me back on my hooves. Half a million bits was a lot of money. There was probably a time when I would have jumped at that offer without a moment’s hesitation. A nest egg like that could pay for a very comfortable standard of living for a long, long time. However, my taste of Freeport life had taught me a couple lessons about looking a gift horse in the mouth. Like Strumming said, if a deal sounds too good to be true, there’s probably a hidden catch.

“Why do you want them so much?” I frowned suspiciously, and a couple ideas clicked into place for me. “Wait, I think I get it now. Granite Mome showed up in Freeport a couple decades ago with nothing but a lot of theoretical ideas that Equestria didn’t like. Now her son has a pair of fully functional prototypes. That kind of R&D takes funding.” I smirked knowingly at the entire Council. “And who would be more interested in a revolutionary form of golems than a small nation stuck between three big ones? You guys were funding the Momes.”

The Council remained stonily silent. They might as well have just confessed and saved me the trouble.

“I think I can guess where things went wrong from there,” I continued. “Granite was willing to work for you, but Metal was a bit more ambitious. You found out he was thinking of selling his golems to the highest bidder, and he went rogue when you tried to shut him down. That’s why he turned to piracy to finish up his prototypes—he’d lost his funding from you.” I scowled as the rest of the pieces fell into place. “You didn’t send me after a pirate, this was a cleanup mission. You either wanted him either captured and working for you again, or dead so his tech wouldn’t go to anyone else.”

“An intriguing theory.” Despite the masks hiding their faces, I was pretty sure all the Councilors were scowling down at me. “However, why the Council desires Metal Mome’s creations is none of your affair. All that should concern you is that we are prepared to compensate you handsomely for them.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” I wasn’t exactly the most attentive of students when Celestia tried to teach me about morality and ethics, but that didn’t mean I’d completely ignored her. If I sold the golems to the Council, I would have some responsibility for how the Council used them. And if the Council figured out how to copy Mome’s designs, they could end up fulfilling his dream of mass-produced golem armies. I didn’t like the idea of putting armies of emotionless, absolutely obedient automatons into their hooves.

“Think very carefully, Miss Shimmer,” one of the Councilors rumbled. “Thus far our relationship with you has been quite amicable, but if you think we will allow you to sell your golems to a foreign power...”

I didn’t like the implied threat at the end of the sentence, but I had more important things to worry about than a bit of bluster. “Trust me, I don’t like the idea of giving these golems to Gryphonia or Zebrica any more than I like the idea of letting you have them.”

“You intend to sell them to your old teacher, then?”

I vehemently shook my head. “I don’t think Celestia would want to buy them. Or if she did, she would just drop them down the nearest volcano.” I thought it over and licked my lips. “Which might be the best idea for how to handle them. You saw how much trouble Mome caused with just two golems. Imagine what would happen if somepony like Sombra got their hooves on an entire army of them.”

The Council shared more looks, and I felt that same weird buzz that always accompanied them talking something over while shutting me out of the conversation. Finally, the one in the center spoke. “Do you have an alternative proposal then, Miss Shimmer?”

I thought it over for a bit, then slowly nodded. “Metal Mome’s brain was completely fried by my attack. Whatever he knew about his golems died with him, and I’m gonna guess that he didn’t leave any of his research notes behind after he went rogue. Even if you get Mome’s golems, it could take you decades to reverse-engineer them.” I shifted around on my ice chair, sitting up a bit straighter. “You’d need a real expert in golemry to manage the project, and those are hard to find. Not to mention someone is likely to notice if Freeport starts hiring experts in an obscure but dangerous field of magical study.” I licked my lips and carefully delivered my conclusion. “If you ask me, it sounds like a bad investment.”

“We have already spent a considerable amount funding Mome’s research,” one of the Councilors groused. “Why abandon it now?”

If not for the fact that I probably needed to be on my best behavior, I would’ve rolled my eyes. “Oh come on, that’s so obvious I’m pretty sure you’re only asking to test me. It’s the classic Sunk Cost Fallacy: you make a bad choice, and rather than admit it’s a bad decision, you double down on it an attempt to justify your initial mistake.”

I thought about what I’d just said, then chuckled ruefully. “It’s ... something I’m rather familiar with from personal experience. The point is, once you realize you’ve made a bad investment, the smart thing to do is pull out, not keep tossing money at it in the hopes that one day it will magically turn into a good decision.”

If I’d learned that particular lesson a bit sooner, I might have avoided some of my current problems. It’s not easy for anyone to admit that they’ve made a mistake, especially when it’s a mistake they’ve really invested in. Like me using dark magic. I’m not saying I would never use it again, or even that I shouldn’t have used it against Mome, but pulling it out in the cemetery could’ve gone very badly and was just completely unnecessary. I’m sure there were all kinds of complicated psychological reasons for why I’d fallen back on dark magic again in a moment of stress, but the bottom line was that I’d crossed a line I didn’t need to cross. Hay, I’d nearly killed a mostly innocent pony who was just doing his job. I’m not saying I deserved to get locked in jail or anything, but I’d screwed up a lot. Maybe it was time to take some of Strumming’s advice for once and take a closer look at my own actions instead of assuming that I was right and the rest of the world was wrong.

Okay, so Strumming might have been right about that. She was still annoying, though.

The Council went over my proposal for a while longer, then eventually reached a consensus. “Very well then, Miss Shimmer. We will pay you a sum of twenty-five thousand bits to destroy Mome’s golems and any remaining research materials. If his golemry experiments are too dangerous to use, then we should take no chances that they fall into the hands of someone who might use that knowledge to harm our interests.”

One of the other Councilors cocked their head, studying me curiously. “You are ... not what our reports said you were, Miss Shimmer.”

I smirked and nodded to the robed figure who had spoken. “What can I say? I like defying everyone’s expectations of me.” I turned back to the leader. “Okay, you have a deal.”

We spent a while settling all the details of the payment and whatnot—it wasn’t like the council was just going to shove a huge sack of fifty thousand bits into my hooves right then and there. However, there was one little detail I left out of our arrangement.

I might be destroying all of golems and any materials that could help rebuild them, but I still had his memories. Not that I was planning to create an army of mindless servants to help me take over the world, but you never know when that kind of knowledge can come in handy. And if the Council complained ... well, I had fulfilled our bargain to the letter.